Oil-cloth-display rack.



D. W. JOHNSON.

OIL CLOTH DISPLAY RACK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14 H5.

1,178,645. Patented Apr. 11,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- Witnesses Inventor b mzmzw I y Attorneys I D. W.JOHNSON.

on CLOTH DISPLAY RACK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14. I915.

Patented Apr. 11,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Inventor:

Witnesses Attorneys UNITED STATES iwrnnr onrrcn.

DWIGHT JOHNSON, OF IBETHANY, NEBRASKA,

oIL-cLo'rH-DIsrLAY RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent. t t 1 Application filed July 14, 1915.seriarno. 39,865.

provide a novel and improved display rack of that character" providedwith novel and improved means whereby a desired length of oil cloth maybe readily taken from: the selected roll and thencut off.

The present device embodies means for rotatably mounting a number ofrolls of oil cloth or other fabric, whereby therolls may be convenientlydisplayed, means for winding up a desired amount of any particular styleof oil cloth fromv the respective roll, and means for cutting orsevering the oil cloth after the required length thereof hasbeen unwoundfrom the roll, so that the oilclothwhich is out off will be rolled upready for handling. In: other words, the invention aims to provide anapparatus for conveniently displaying various styles of oil cloth, andfor enabling the required length of the particular'oil cloth selected bythe purchaser, to be readily unrolled and cut ofi, without the necessityof handling the rolls independently, as usual, and unrollingthe oilcloth upon a table',.the floor, or the like, which is troublesome, andwhich involves difli'culty in unrolling' the desired amount of oilcloth,

- especially when the desired amount; of oil cloth is long. 1

Another object of the invention is the provision of an oil cloth displayrack of the nature indicated, embodying a unique assemblage of thecomponent parts, and improved generally in its details, to enhance theutility and efiiciency thereof. With the foregoing and other objectsinview which will appear as the description proceeds, the inventionresides in the combination and arrangement of partsa'n'd in the detailsof construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being; understoodthat changes in the. precise embodiment. of the invention hereindisclosed can he. made withi-n the scope of what is claimed withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanylng drawings, wherein 1Figure 1 is: a planaview of the structure. F1g.. 21 1s a horizontalsection thereof taken on the line 2-2-of' Fig. 4:: Fig; 3 is a sideelevation of the device, portions being broken away and shown insection. c Fig, 4:

is another side elevation, looking at right angles to the. line of viewin Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail illustrating the meansfor supporting. one of. the spindles.

In carryingout the invention, there-is provided. asuitable supportingframe 1, which may be constructed of piping, and which is provided withlegs 2 for'conveniently supporting the device upon the floor in thestore or elsewhere. Theframe 1 is provided with a pair of oppositestandards3 and 4 having their upper and lower ends connected by therespective yokes' 5 and 6, and said yokes are provided intermediatetheir ends with bearings7, preferably in the formof T-couplingsinterposed in the pipes constituting the yokes; Outstanding brackets 8and 10 are carried by the upper and lowerends, respectively, of the:standard 3, a bearing 9 in the form of a T-coupling being attached tothe free end: of the upper bracket 8; and the free end of the lowerbracket 10 having an upstanding tubular socket member or pipe section11-.

rotatable carrier? or rack proper 12 for the rolls of oil cloth ismounted for rotation about a vertical aXis' upon the frame, between thestandards 3' and-34:, whereby the carrier13l is disposed in an uprightposition. The'carrier 12 embodies a central vertical shaft 1"3'Qhavingits ends journaled within I the bearings 7 and upper' and lower circularheads 14 and 15' are secured rigidly to the disks 16 thereon. Each disk16 and its pintle 17 has a bore 18 therein.

The rolls of oil cloth 0 are slipped upon upright spindles 19 which havetheir lower ends reduced, as at 20, and slipped into the bores 18 of therespective disks l6, and the upper ends 21 of the spindles 19 arereceived in open radial slots 22 formed in the upper head 14. The upperends of the spindles are held within the slots 22 by means of hooks 23pivoted upon the upper head 14 and engageable with the upper protrudingtermi-- nals of the spindles. When the hooks 23 aredisenga'ged from thespindles, the upper 15. t wardly out of'the slots 22, and may then beends of the spindles may be swung outlifted ofl of the disks 16, sothat'the spindles 19 may be readily passed or slipped into the rolls ofoil cloth, and after whichthe spindles may be replaced for conveniently:applying 'the rolls to the carrier 12.

In order to normally prevent the oil cloth from unwinding from therolls, tension 3 means are carried by the heads 14 and 15,

said means embodying stems 25 attached to the heads between the spindles19 and proj ecting therebetween, and the hooked ends of coiled wireretractile springs 26 are engaged to the stems 25, whereby theintermediate portions of the coiled springs 26 will bear against theinner sides of the rolls for pre- I venting the rolls from spinning.This pro- 1 vides simple and effective means for fric-- I tionallyholding the rolls, it being noted that .-will be bowed inwardly, and dueto the conwhen the rolls are applied, the springs 26 A tractile tensionof the springs they will continually bear against the rolls as the rolls1 decrease in diameter, due to the unwinding .;1; The means for windingup theoil cloth which is-unwound from one of the rolls isof the oilcloth therefrom.

- carried by the brackets 8 and 9, and to this is also provided with acentral upstanding.

roller 30.

end, a disk 27 is seated upon the socket mem- 'ber 11 and is-providedwith a central depending pin 28 fitting in said member, and

pin 29. An upright roller or core member 30 is provided with asocket'3lat its lower end receiving the pin 29, the roller 30 seat ing upon thedisk 27, whereby the disk27 v I j will support the oil cloth wound uponthe A rotatable spindle 32 is slidable through the bearing 9, and isprovided at its upper end with a hand crank 33, a spring 34 beingdisposed Within the bear- I ing 9 for yieldably depressing the spindle-portion 35 received by a similarly-shaped recess 36 in the upper end ofthe roller 30, I

32 into engagement with the upper end of the roller 30. The lowerterminal of the spindle 32 has a flattened or non-circular whereby theroller 30 will be rotated with the spindle 32 when the crank 33 isrotated by hand. The roller 30 is disposedat one side of the rack and isparallel and coextensive with the spindles 19 whereby the oil cloth maybe readily wound upon the roller 30 from any one of the spindles whenthe carrier 12 is rotated to the proper position.

Disposed between the carrier 12 and the roller 30, is an oil-clothclamping and cutting means 37, which embodies a pair of uprightcooperating bars 38 and 39, the bar 38 being rigidly secured to theframe 1 adj acent the standard 3 between the carrier 12 and roller-30.The bar 39 is mounted to move to and from the bar 38 for frictionallygripping and releasing the oil cloth, respectively, and to this end,upper and lower pairs of links 40 are terminally pivoted to the oppositesides of the bars 38 and 39, adjacent the ends of said bars. movedupwardly, it will be moved against the bar 38, and conversely, when thebar 39 is lowered, it will be moved away from the bar 38,. One of theupper links 40 is exlVhen the bar 39 is.

tended to provide an angularly extending" handle or lever 41, andthehandle 41 is connected by means of a coiled wire retractile spring 42with the bar 38, whereby the spring 42 yieldably swings the handle 41downwardly to bring thebar39 against the bar 38. The side plates 46 haveflanges or lips 47 working in longitudinal grooves 48 provided in thesides ofthe bar 39, whereby the slide 45 is guided for vertical orlongitudinal movement along the bar 39. The

cutter blade 49 is carried by the slide 45 and projects through the slot43 into the slot orgroove-44. A leaf spring 50 is attached to one sideof the bar 39 adjacent the upper end of the said bar, and projectsdownwardly to receive the respective side plate;

46 of the slide 45, when the slide is raised, to hold said slide inraised position ordinarily.

In use, the rolls or oil cloth or other fabric may be placed upon thecarrier 12 in a convenient manner, the rolls being held by the.

spindles 19 and seating upon the disks l5, and the springs 26 providetension means for holding the rolls against accidental or unwarrantedrotation. The rolls are thus supported in an upright position, and maymbe conveniently rotated with the carrier 12, so that the various stylesof oil cloth or fabric may be readily and efl'ectively exhibited to theprospective purchaser, the oil cloth being unwoundv slightly from therolls.

in order that the designs thereof can be observed. When the desiredstyle. or grade of oil cloth is selected, the carrier 12 is rotatedbrought against the bar 38 under the influence of the springs 42, sothat the oil cloth will be gripped between the bars, although the oilcloth may be readily-drawn or pulled from between the bars to the roller30. The oil cloth is then wound around the roller 30, and the crank 33is then rotated for winding the oil cloth upon the roller 30. The bars38 and 39 being held yieldably together will sufficiently grip the oilcloth to bring the same under tension or to render the same taut,whereby it will be wound tightly upon the roller 30. The desired amountof oil cloth is measured off in any suitable manner, for instance, byproviding an ordinary or suitable measuring device adjacent the bar 38for contacting with and measuring the oil cloth as it is drawn from theroll and wound upon the roller 30, or the oil cloth may be provided witha linear scale thereon to assist in readily laying off the desiredlength of oil cloth. After the desired length of oil cloth has beendrawn from the roll, the slide is moved downwardly along the bar 38, andthe cutter blade 49 working within the slots 43 and 44 will sever theoil cloth clamped or gripped between the bars 38 and 39. The oil clothis thus cut off in a convenient and desirable manner. The oil clothwhich is wound upon the roller 30 is then removed, by raising thespindle 32 so that it is disengaged from the upper end of the roller 30,and the roller 30 may then be swung to one side and lifted ofi of thepin 29. The roller 30 may then be removed from the oil cloth Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for five cents each,

and replaced, or may be allowed to remain in the oil cloth forconveniently handling the same, another roller 30 being substituted uponthe rack.

The present device therefore enables the rolls of oil cloth to bedisplayed or exhibited readily, and also permits the oil cloth to beconveniently unwound from any roll and then cut loose. The presentdevice is particularly useful in retail stores, since it enables thesalesman to exhibit and handle the oil cloth with despatch. The devicealso provides attractive means for displaying the oil cloth, as well asrendering it more easy to handle the same.

Instead of supporting the device in an upright position, the same may besupported in a horizontal position, if desired, and slight changes inthe details of construction may be resorted to in building the rackswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a display rack, a rotary carrier embodying a pair of heads anddetachable spindles carried thereby and removable from between saidheads, the spindlesbeing arranged in an annular series and being adaptedto hold rolls of fabric, stems carried by the heads and projectingtherefrom between said spindles, and coiled wire retractile springshaving their ends attached to said stems and adapted to be bowedinwardly by the rolls.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DWIGHT W. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

HERBERT D. LAWSON, BESSIE R. JOHNSON.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

